Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Submission Deadline for Eisaku Sato Essay Contest is 31 March 2013.

Submissions are now being accepted for the 29th Eisaku Sato Essay Contest. This international contest is open to anyone who has an interest in both the United Nations University and the designated contest topic. There are no restrictions as to age, nationality or profession.

The topic of the 2013 contest is:

Many people expect the United Nations to play a major role in world peace and in protecting the safety and welfare of people worldwide. Express your views on whether the United Nations is sufficiently responding to these expectations. If 'no', discuss the causes and constraints for this failure; if 'yes', discuss some recent success cases.

Your essay may be in either English (3,000–6,000 words) or Japanese (8,000–16,000 characters). All essays should be typed on A4-size paper. English essays should include an abstract of up to 450 words. Japanese essays should include an abstract of up to 1,200 characters.

Your essay must be original and unpublished, and must include reference notes and a bibliography if other authors' works are cited.

Submitted essays will not be returned. Any essay that does not follow the criteria specified above will be disqualified.

A grand prize (¥500,000), a second prize (¥200,000) and several honorable mentions (¥50,000 each) will be awarded. The winners will be notified by June 2013; those who are able to attend will receive their prizes at a ceremony to be held at the United Nations University in Tokyo.

1. Introduction The JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme was launched in 2002 and is jointly organised by UNU and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). It is designed to provide promising, highly qualified, young researchers the opportunity to conduct advanced research relevant to the main thematic focus of UNU-IAS (Institute of Advanced Studies), located in Yokohama, or UNU-ISP (Institute for Sustainability and Peace), located in Tokyo, and in co-operation with their host researchers at Japanese universities and research institutions. UNU acts as the nominating authority for the JSPS-UNU Programme, and UNU-IAS administers the programme on behalf of UNU in the nominating process. This fellowship is aimed at candidates who have completed their PhD in the past six years and also have professional and/or research experience.UNU will assist in securing acceptance from the host researchers for short-listed candidates. After the host researcher is secured for each short-listed candidate, UNU will make formal nominations to JSPS, which funds this programme. The final award decision will be made by JSPS and Awards Letters will be issued by JSPS to the fellowship awardees. An advisor for each fellowship awardee will be selected for the period of research in Japan from among the UNU (UNU-IAS or UNU-ISP) faculty members.

2. Fields of ResearchUNU conducts research on all fields of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Yet, research proposals for JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellowships should relate clearly to one of the current research areas of UNU-IAS and UNU-ISP as well as aim to be policy-relevant. The following Research Programmes and Projects at UNU-IAS in Yokohama are accepting applications for JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellows:

Science and Technology for Sustainable Societies

Sustainable Urban Futures

Biodiplomacy Initiative

Sustainable Development Governance

Traditional Knowledge Initiative

The following Research Programmes at UNU-ISP in Tokyo are accepting applications for JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellows:

International Cooperation and Development

Global Change and Sustainability

Peace and Security

3. EligibilityCitizens of a country that has diplomatic relations with Japan. Japanese nationals are not eligible. Holders of a doctoral degree when the Fellowship goes into effect, which must have been received on or after 2 April 2007, or those scheduled to receive a doctorate degree before the Fellowship goes into effect.Applicants with at least 10 months research and/or professional experience are especially encouraged to apply. Those who have previously been awarded a fellowship under the "JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for Foreign Researchers" (excluding Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (Short-term) for North American and European Researchers and Summer Program) are not eligible.

4. Duration of the FellowshipFellowships are awarded for a period of 24 months.

5. Terms of AwardA round-trip air ticket (based on JSPS regulations). A monthly maintenance allowance of JPY362,000. A settling-in allowance of JPY200,000, Overseas travel accident and sickness insurance coverage, etc. Note: The terms of the Awards indicated above are subject to change by JSPS. If the Fellow resides in Japan on the date his/her award letter is issued, the above-mentioned air ticket to Japan and settling-in allowance will not be provided. A research grant, "Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research", of up to JPY1,500,000 per year (total of JPY3,000,000 for two years. The amount varies depending on the areas/disciplines of research.) is available to cover cooperative research-related expenses. Application for these grants is made by the host researcher through his/her institution. This award is provided by JSPS, and the JSPS program guidelines will be available on JSPS' website in January 2013 .

6. Nomination of CandidatesUNU will act as a nominating authority of the Programme, and application should be submitted to UNU-IAS. UNU-IAS nominates candidates to the JSPS based on the following criteria: (i) the research objectives of the applicant and the quality of the research proposal, (ii) the relevance of the research proposal to the ongoing or planned research activities of the applicant's indicated Research Programme at UNU-IAS or UNU-ISP, and (iii) the applicant's academic merit and the potential for successful research while in Japan.UNU will try to inform the successful candidates of the results of the nomination in May 2013. JSPS takes up to 3 months after receiving the nominations to process its award decision.

7. Starting Date and Deadline for ApplicationsThe JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme begins on 1 September and the selected Fellows are required to be in Japan by this date. The deadline for applications for the 2013 Fellowships is 28 February 2013.

8. To ApplyInterested and eligible candidates are invited to complete the online-application form. If you do not have access to the Internet, please contact us (see the contacts below). The online form and the required documents indicated in the form must be in English. If the supporting document is in another language, please also attach an English translation. Short-listed candidates will be contacted for a telephone interview. Contacts :JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellowship ProgrammeUnited Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies6F, International Organizations Center Pacifico-Yokohama, 1-1-1 Minato MiraiNishi-ku, Yokohama 220-8502, JapanEmail: fellowships@ias.unu.eduFax: +81-45-221-2302

Friday, January 25, 2013

Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament (LAMP) Fellowship 2013-2014

Last date for applications is March 3, 2013.

The Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament (LAMP) Fellowship is a unique platform for bright young Indians to have a high-impact engagement with the policy-making process at the national level. The LAMP Fellowship places one legislative assistant to work with one MP for a period of 11 months. The Fellowship exposes LAMP Fellows to the working of Parliament and the legislative process. The Fellowship encourages the best and the brightest young individuals to get involved in public service. The LAMP Fellowship 2012-13 comprises 41 young people from across 15 states in India. They come from diverse academic backgrounds including liberal arts, law, commerce, engineering and the sciences. LAMP Fellows will support their MPs through the Monsoon, Winter and Budget sessions of Parliament. The primary role of a LAMP Fellow is to provide customised research support to the assigned MP they work with for the entire duration of the Fellowship. This would entail providing research inputs to help them fulfill their parliamentary duties such as asking questions, raising matters of public importance, participating in debates, writing speeches, drafting private member Bills, among others.

Eligibility PRS seeks to engage with highly-motivated, bright young people for the LAMP Fellowship.

Candidate must be 25 years or under (born on January1, 1988 or later).

Candidate must have at least a Bachelor's degree in any academic discipline.

Only Indian citizens are eligible for the LAMP Fellowship.

Selection ProcessThe LAMP Fellowship involves a highly competitive selection process to enable brilliant, motivated young individuals across the country to be part of the Fellowship. Applications are invited through an online application portal only. The online form requires details of the candidate's academic background, relevant work experience and references. In addition, candidates are required to submit their CV, a statement of intent and short essays on their understanding of the LAMP Fellowship. Based on the application, shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview.